The New Zealand dollar was little changed after the Reserve Bank of Australia released minutes of its last policy meeting, giving little further in the way of clues to its interest rate intentions. The kiwi dollar traded at 82.48 US cents, little changed from the start of New Zealand trading and up from 82.33 cents the previous day. The trade-weighted …

Guinness Peat Group has hired a London-based brokerage to promote Coats as a standalone business and begun the search for a chairman for what will be its remaining asset. GPG is exiting its portfolio of investments, apart from Coats, and will return capital to shareholders as it transforms into the thread-making business. GPG chairman Rob Campbell doesn’t plan to lead …

The spread of computer chips into products as diverse as washing machines, toasters and medical equipment is forcing Statistics New Zealand to overhaul its biennial technology survey. Trading in information and communication technology goods and services was worth $23 billion in 2012, up 17 percent from the last survey in 2010, according to the government statistician. Of that, $10.1 billion …